Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of child protection matters. The issues raised relate to court proceedings. The law says we cannot investigate complaints about court action or what happened in court. Other data matters are best placed with the Information Commissioner’s Office.

The complaint

1. Mrs X says the Council gave false information to the court during care proceedings. She says it also gave misleading information to a Consulate in 2022 and 2025, then withheld this correspondence despite her subject access request. She says the Council made unfounded allegations about her and still shares information with the consulate without telling her, which stops her from correcting errors.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. We cannot investigate a complaint about the start of court action or what happened in court. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5/5A, paragraph 1/3, as amended)
4. We have the power to start or end an investigation into a complaint about actions the law allows us to investigate. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we think the issues could reasonably be, or have been mentioned as part of the legal proceedings regarding a closely related matter. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended, section 34(B))
5. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide there is another body better placed to consider this complaint. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
6. We normally expect someone to refer the matter to the Information Commissioner if they have a complaint about data protection. However, we may decide to investigate if we think there are good reasons. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

7. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
8. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

9. I cannot investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the contents of the Council’s reports presented during court proceedings. The matters she raises formed part of care proceedings, and we do not have power to investigate this. The law prevents us from investigating the start of court action and anything that has formed part of court proceedings, including the preparation and contents of reports presented to the courts by the Council.
10. Mrs X plans to appeal the care proceedings, so it is reasonable for her to raise concerns about the court material in court.
11. Mrs X’s complaint about the lack of information provided by the Council under her subject access request is best placed with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). The ICO are best placed to consider complaints about how public bodies deal with requests for information.

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Final decision

12. We cannot investigate Mrs X’s complaint because the issues raised relate to care proceedings which are outside the Ombudsman remit. Other data matters are best handled by the ICO.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman